I voted Islanders, but this is very close. Here are some of my thoughts.

The style of play was different. The Oilers style was a little like the Canadiens of 76-79. Great puck control with a ton of scoring. Al Arbour came along and said screw this puck control nonsense, we're going to play aggressive, tight, positional fore-checking, Neutral-Zone play and Defense. That, and three solid lines won them the four cups. Plus Gillies could kick the **** out of anyone. He created a model that a lot of teams use today.

Sather created a style tailored to what he had, and they were, to some extent, better than those Canadiens.

Well, considering the '88 Oilers won the Cup without Gretzky, that there wasn't much roster turnover from the '87 Champs to the '88 Champs (essentially Gretzky and Coffey replaced by Simpson, Carson, Gelinas) and that the '90 Oilers still had 16 "core" players from the '88 championship squad (most of whom were also there in '87, mind you)...

Your opinion that the Oilers' '90 Cup tells us little/nothing about the strength of depth on Gretzky's Oilers is not only a minority opinion, it's also on weak footing, imo.

I see your point but as mentioned before, Gretzky's Oilers means the Oilers with Gretzky in the lineup.

I see your point but as mentioned before, Gretzky's Oilers means the Oilers with Gretzky in the lineup.

As perhaps not mentioned before, Gretzky himself, as great as he was, wasn't a dynasty. And what they (the 16 returnees) did "immediately" after his departure (after losing to Gretzky's Kings in '89 of course, lol) speaks to the strength they provided the dynasty during the "Gretzky years", as well.

As perhaps not mentioned before, Gretzky himself, as great as he was, wasn't a dynasty. And what they (the 16 returnees) did "immediately" after his departure (after losing to Gretzky's Kings in '89 of course, lol) speaks to the strength they provided the dynasty during the "Gretzky years", as well.

Well, they scored 55 more goals and only allowed 43 more on the way to 8 more points in the standings in '83/84 (104) compared to '82/83 (96). Also, not only are the big names all there (Potvin, Bossy, Trottier, Gillies, Sutter, Tonelli, Gilbert), and still in their mid/late 20s for the most part, but the Islanders also had a young lad named Lafontaine chip in 19 points in his first 15 regular season games, and 9 points in his first 16 playoff games. It's hard to argue that they were less talented as a group, that's for sure, and almost no one was even close to "long in the tooth", as the saying goes (Potvin among the oldest of the key players at 30).

Break it down top player by player....Gretzky better than Trottier. Messier better than Goring. Both of those are by a landslide. Fuhr and Smith even. Moog probably better than Chico. Potvin better than Coffey. Bossy better than Kurri. Anderson and Gillies even. Tonelli better than Tikkanen. Lowe better than Jonsson. Sutter better than MacTavish. Krush give edge to Bourne. Smith better than Morrow. Nystrom better than Semenko.

Gretz and Mess so much better makes the difference. But teams are close

Break it down top player by player....Gretzky better than Trottier. Messier better than Goring. Both of those are by a landslide. Fuhr and Smith even. Moog probably better than Chico. Potvin better than Coffey. Bossy better than Kurri. Anderson and Gillies even. Tonelli better than Tikkanen. Lowe better than Jonsson. Sutter better than MacTavish. Krush give edge to Bourne. Smith better than Morrow. Nystrom better than Semenko.

Gretz and Mess so much better makes the difference. But teams are close

A good player-by-player comparison. Still, NYI have managed to win 4 Cups in a row. The Oilers choked in 1986

A good player-by-player comparison. Still, NYI have managed to win 4 Cups in a row. The Oilers choked in 1986

4 in a row is as good as it gets for a 4-year span, but the thread's not "greater record in a continuous 4-year span."

5 Cups in 7 years is better than 4 in 4 years, because at the end of 7 years, the Oilers have 5 and the Isles still have 4. They never "choked" in consecutive years, as the Isles did every year outside of 1980-84.

4 in a row is as good as it gets for a 4-year span, but the thread's not "greater record in a continuous 4-year span."

5 Cups in 7 years is better than 4 in 4 years, because at the end of 7 years, the Oilers have 5 and the Isles still have 4. They never "choked" in consecutive years, as the Isles did every year outside of 1980-84.

Well, they scored 55 more goals and only allowed 43 more on the way to 8 more points in the standings in '83/84 (104) compared to '82/83 (96). Also, not only are the big names all there (Potvin, Bossy, Trottier, Gillies, Sutter, Tonelli, Gilbert), and still in their mid/late 20s for the most part, but the Islanders also had a young lad named Lafontaine chip in 19 points in his first 15 regular season games, and 9 points in his first 16 playoff games. It's hard to argue that they were less talented as a group, that's for sure, and almost no one was even close to "long in the tooth", as the saying goes (Potvin among the oldest of the key players at 30).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mats86

Virtually the same group

Say the guys who obviously didn't see them.

You don't think that playing in 20 straight playoff series over 5 years doesn't put some mileage on players?

I cant see the logic in picking the Oilers in this one. The Islanders won 4 consecutive cups, the Oilers took 4 cups in a 5 year span (The title says Gretzky Oilers, so I'm excluding the Oilers 1990 cup win). The Islanders had the better dynasty and quite frankly at their peaks, I think the Islanders where overall the better team.

It's interesting to note that both the Islanders and Oilers were in similar situations in 1982 and 1986 when both were gunning for a third straight cup. Both were down (the Islanders by two goals, the Oilers by one, late in the third period) in the deciding game of each series. The Islanders got the job done, the Oilers didnt. That has to count for something.

I cant see the logic in picking the Oilers in this one. The Islanders won 4 consecutive cups, the Oilers took 4 cups in a 5 year span (The title says Gretzky Oilers, so I'm excluding the Oilers 1990 cup win). The Islanders had the better dynasty and quite frankly at their peaks, I think the Islanders where overall the better team.

It's interesting to note that both the Islanders and Oilers were in similar situations in 1982 and 1986 when both were gunning for a third straight cup. Both were down (the Islanders by two goals, the Oilers by one, late in the third period) in the deciding game of each series. The Islanders got the job done, the Oilers didnt. That has to count for something.